Equality and Diversity

We are committed to promoting equality and celebrating diversity in our town, our services and our workplace. Our commitment is outlined in our Fairness for All policy.

It is a guide to help the Borough of Poole to meet its legal duties and our longstanding commitment to meet the needs of all residents.This internal policy sets out our vision for promoting equality and celebrating diversity for and with the people of Poole. For residents it articulates what they can expect from us but, more importantly, it sets out the council’s expectations of Members and Officers in their roles.

Under the Equality Act people looking after someone who is elderly or disabled are also protected against direct discrimination or harassment because of their caring responsibilities. For more information about carers rights please see this government guidance.

We also recognise that people on very low incomes or who live in relative poverty may also experience inequality and reduced life chances. Other groups also need additional support or specialist services to achieve their aspirations, including children looked after by the council. Our commitment extends to all people who live in, work or visit Poole.

We have also published our community-facing equality outcomes under each priority in our Corporate Strategy. Many of the Strategy’s outcomes will positively impact on those with ‘protected characteristics’. These articulate our ambitions to bring about change for these groups in the community and Cabinet, who own the Strategy, will be accountable for the delivery of the outcomes.

We have agreed a set of Key Performance indicators (see downloads on this page) that will help us measure progress with achieving our Fairness for All policy and ambitions in the Corporate Strategy. These will be reported to our Business Improvement Overview and Scrutiny Committee at least annually.